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[Dean_the_Young]

Dean's attempt at crafting a non-evil religion faction, equal to an opposing secular ideology.

 

There's more of this... somewhere. In the form of PM's, so not really arranged or organized.

 

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Religion versus Ideology is based around a ideas/critiques/etc. of religion versus secularism. For me this is more of an exploration of the benefits and costs of both: not simply the post-modern 'religions are the source of all evil' or 'secularism is liberalism/good.' It has a good deal of contrast between that sort of one-sided dismissal, and thinks a lot more about historical facts about how, oh, the early Christian/Catholic Church was repeatedly dominated by secular authorities rather than the other way around. I suppose you could say it's my counter-argument to the idea that religions are bad, and ideologies are good, without being the inverse. If the premise could be summarized by anything, it would be 'secular religions are religions too, for good and ill.'

Since Middle Ages are on my mind, an appropriate setting is taken for a conflict between two civilizations/movements: the established religion, call if 'The Family' after its core pantheon, and a quasi-Muslim-history movement called 'The Legacy,' after it's central premise. We have third party pagans/unbelievers of both, but as is the crux of history these are pretty marginalized and/or to be stomped by the bigger movements.


The established religion is The Family: a polytheistic pantheon in which the divine, rather than take the roles of forces of nature, take the aspects of the family. Think The Five from Game of Thrones: you have the Father (the King, He Who Wars Away, the Patriarch), the Mother (the Queen, She Who Rules Home, the Matriarch), the Son, the Daughter, the Sister, the Brother, etc. The Family espouses that everyone in the world is part of one family, and should act like it by adopting the precepts of what their Pantheon represents. It's a somewhat conservative religion with expectations of how people should fit into certain roles (brothers should behave in a certain way, for example), and between dogma and a theological state seeking to convert the natives while having the ruling family all being considered quasi-divine figures (the precepts in flesh, if you will), it's fully expected to initial repel the 'modern' sensibility.

On the other hand, the virtues, compassions, and nuances of the Family are played up as a redeeming factor. While the idea of a rigid social structure may seem repressive, the actual idea of the precepts are quite flexible, a result of the differences in the cultures and people that have converted and shaped it. Just as Christiandom was influenced and affected by the pagans it assimilated, so has the Family: each culture brings in a bit of what it considers 'appropriate', and so the idea of the Brother-Sister relationship has so many interpretations that it can mean whatever you want it to mean. Or rather, even in religion there can be differing interpretations and debate, and so the fear of a monolithic interpretations is avoided: to you The Mother can mean one thing, while to another The Mother means something quite different.




The Legacy is a philosophy/movement that the Purpose of Life is to leave a legacy behind for after your death. Life is transitory, temporary, but the actions we take in life can have consequences beyond our death, and that's what's important: that memory of our lives is the only sort of immortality we can have after our deaths. A mentor who trains a student to be a better master, or parents who leaves behind a home for their children. It's big on how the past affects the future, and in its best forms it can help direct people to make a better future. It's advocates believe that the key to fixing the world's problems is if everyone acts in a way that considers what their legacy will be. There's a definite appeal to modern sensibilities, with the idea of enlightened secularism being a seemingly natural part of this.

On the other hand, the fixation on how history will perceive us, and the emphasis on being remembered at all rather than salvation or personal wealth, can help drive historical duplicity (people remember what's told, not true), attention-gathering (to gain fame and permanence), and naked ambition. An empire is a sort of legacy that can involve a lot of broken bodies. Moreover, the way the Legacy is carried by its adherents is as good a counter-argument as any: it's a secular-religion, and just as prone to dogmatic zealots trying to force it on others for their own good.



Project: Legacy would/could be a Fallout-style RPG or a Dragon Age 2 style RPG in which the player gradually determines which movement will rise and which will fall... hence, the player's Legacy on the world.

 

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Major Characters to come.

[Dean_the_Young]

(Another summation of the same idea.)

Basically an ideological conflict for use in some quasi- early Middle Ages setting. Actually inspired when I was listening to a history of the middle ages, starting with the end of the classical Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity. Particularly the rise of christianity vis-a-vis the decline of classical paganism. On one hand you have the new, uprising movement filled with new ideas and new energy, and on the other you have the classical establishment.


The Old Religion is the Family: a religion in which the aspects of Divinity are associated with the aspects and role of family relations. The Divine is the Father, the Mother, the Sister, the Brother, and all at once and in all roles. The classic theocracy, complete with a ruling family who are deemed the living embodiments of the Divine. A socially traditional following, with strong emphasis and values on family ties and connections.


Opposing it is the secular philosophy of 'Legacy': an intellectual movement based around the idea that a meritorious life is one which will be remembered for what it leaves behind. Being forgotten and mediocrity are the worst fates for mankind, and everyone should be intelligent and maximize their potential so that they will be remembered.


It's really a case of classical religion versus secular religion, with many points for showing that they Aren't So Different.

The Family, traditional as it is, has a strong case for reform by merit of the many differing ideas of what family even means across cultures. What does 'Father' mean to you, and how would your interpretation differ from mine? By illustrating how dissent and differences of interpretation can exist even in a 'narrow' perspective, it would be used to illustrate the potential for reform in a classical religious establishment.

Legacy deals with the potential for zealotry in the name of secular ideology, as well as how 'secularism' isn't the same as 'virtue' nor is it impossible to have much in common with religions. People so fixated on being remembered can end up justifying any number of immediate harms that will be forgotten, whether out of the Greater Good or simply betting past wrongs will be forgotten: the same ideology that can be used to justify great efforts to improve the status of millions could be used to justify stepping over them to advance yourself. Likewise, secular practices and rituals can lead to ideological blind spots and emotional icebergs more often associated with the irrationalities of religion: to a Legacy advocate who believes virtue and honor is found in being remembered after death, burning records of the dead and making them lost to history would be a tremendous blasphemy.


Without any specific plot besides 'clash', the idea of comparing and contrasting religious versus secular ideology would making an interesting context for an RPG. The ideologies listed, besides being broadly sympathetic and intuitively understandable, also have the benefit of both potentially being at odds with each other while also being able to be reconciled depending on player involvement.

After all, what Family wouldn't want to leave a better future for their children as their Legacy?

[Dean_the_Young]

So, brief notes on Project Pilgrim (which was another early concept draft).

You are... the Pilgrim! Amazing! Sent out by your village to conduct the ritualistic pilgrimage of your society, you, a mere pilgrim, meet a cast of adventure, intrigue, and a conflict of ideology versus religion that will shape the world.

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What it really is in my head is 'if Final Fantasy X were a real RPG.' FFX, if you never played it, is an impressive and beautiful game with a lovingly crafted setting (and a rather underwhelming main character romance). In short, the main character is thrown from his futuristic city far into a beautiful, pre-industrial, polynesia-islands themed future... kept preindustrial by the rampages of an overwhelmingly powerful monster known only as 'Sin.'

The main character, initially tagging along for personal reasons, accompanies the Pilgrimage of a young Summoner, who by stopping at all the holy sites across the world will be granted the power to beat Sin (for a little while). It's a beautiful setting, many exotic and different locations across the pilgrimage route, and an evolving story as the main character gradually learns the world around him and matures.

Naturally not all is at it seems, the anti-authority tendencies of the FF franchise mean the World Church is corrupt and malevolent, and the hero saves the day after getting the wrong girl.

Whatever- that's the cheap exit I would try and leave behind. And rather than necessarily fighting some all-destroying evil, I'd make it a clash of ideologies.


But overall, the sense of journey and world building- that's a JRPG that could make an excellent W-RPG if you introduced a dialogue wheel and more characters. More linear in path than most Bioware games, but an approach to setting progression that always invited the player to return later.

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Thematically, the ideological conflict is the 'Family vs. Legacy' writeup I had awhile back.

The Family World Church (or maybe just regional equivalent) is based along honoring and valuing family. It tries to frame societies, hierarchies, and such along the lines of family. It has an expansionist past when it conquered/enforced its religion on most of the world, but the expansion phase is largely past: outsiders are seen as 'prodigal sons' who should come back on their own, rather than people to be converted by the sword. It has a surprising amount of variety within it, as local-level ideas of what 'family' means allows a great deal of ideological versatility and flexibility. At this time it is very much a social good focused movement, which means that it's quite supportive and community driven... but as a result, it tends to oppose disruptive changes that would harm social welfare. Things like industrialization putting people out of work would be opposed.

The World Church has a Royal Family, which rules by Divine Right on the grounds of descending from their Pantheon, the Original Father and Mother archetypes. Each member of the Royal Family is supposed to be the sort-of pope for their aspect, ie to be the living representation of Father Mother Sister Brother Son Daughter etc. (The Son does not have to be the avatar of the Brother- roles can be more selective/specific.)

[The kicker of the Family Religion is that it's gods do exist... but they're not the all-powerful sort, and aren't particularly interested or care about the organized religion that follows them. Even the Father, whose words the entire religion is based around, is more bemused by it's pretensions and assumptions about what he must be like.]



The Legacy Ideology is the up and rising challenger to the World Church. Challenging the idea that there are gods and replacing a focus on the present family with a sense of history, the Legacy is more about remembering people (and doing things to be remembered by) than present community. It is steadfastly agnostic, stridently supports scientific industrial advancement without limits, and takes on revolutionary overtones in terms of opposing the World Church and Royal Family's authority. It also has a tendency to step over and on people in its march towards progress- far more the Chinese style development in terms of caring about uprooting entire villages to build a dam.

The Legacy Ideology has its roots in the minor, marginalized areas that resisted and oppose the Family's influence, but as an ideology goes it has no formal structure. It's more of a common cultural movement with a number of influential leaders- think American Protestantism rather than Catholicism. There's a lot of variety in its followers, ranging from well-meaning believers in the benefits of progress to greedy, amoral social darwinists trying to justify their own egos. That's not to say all factions of it are equal- like Socialism in the pre-Soviet period, there are a number of sometimes competing groups vying for influence and to decide who is a 'real' Legacy supporter versus a counter-revolutionary who should be wiped from history (which, to the Legacy, is the worst sort of punishment).

[The kicker for the Legacy is that it's rising revolutionary movement is gathering power to enforce orthodoxy and punish dissent... in effect, making it into a secular religion and burning heretics, and placing the Legacy Leader as an idolized figure. The sins of a rampant organized ideology become increasingly similar to the sins of organized religion.]

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A very brief thing on a basic character cast concept. Two villains, one for each faction, and the tentative cast.


The PC: The Pilgrim. A young person who leaves their hometown to take the Pilgrim's Path to the Capital. The Pilgrimage itself is a religious event, but the PC's motivations can be manifestly secular (getting the macguffin, like a rare medicine or machine, from the end of the Pilgrim's Path).

The Royal Daughter: A young woman who isn't all that she seems, and who joins the group on their pilgrimage after an early plot development. Actually the Royal Daughter, she is traveling as an agent of her father as she tries to unravel a Legacy Plot with major ramifications. The straight Family companion/advocate. If there are other species besides Humans, she would be an elf-equivalent, to emphasize that she is a convert (adopted, really) rather than a 'natural born' daughter who traces her line through the Mother and Father.

The Prodigal Son: A young man from the far and distant lands. Claims to be taking the pilgrimage to try and understand the religion, but is actually a follower of the Legacy. Is actually actually the son of the Legacy Leader- their relationship is not good, in that Legacy Leader is a lousy father to the son trying to earn his respect. The straight Legacy companion/advocate, and is a benevolent believer in the benefits of progress.

The Father, aka The Proginator: The alleged Proginator of the Human Race, a god (the immortal but non-omnipotent sort) who, along with The Mother, fathered endless armies which fought a great evil. These armies, according to myth, became the nations of man- any other species (if there are any) would not be considered descendants of the Father. After separating from the Mother after the death of their first child, has been a reclusive and hidden figure living with various mortal wives for some time. Initially encountered escorting an orphaned child along the Pilgrim's Path to family in the capital, maintains secret identity for some time. Very old, (while looking middle aged), very experienced in the ways of the world, and very different from what everyone expects one of the lead figures from the Pantheon to be. He both offers an insight about a non-interventionist god's perspective ('I can father an army to conquer the world, but that's useless to solving the important things in life'), and a surprising ambivalence about the ideological debate (seeing little reason that the two can't coexist: a parent's legacy is what they leave behind for their children, and including their children). Is generally a reasonable (fatherly) authority figure. A bit worn and tired from long-ago passions- centuries of peace and quiet have clearly left him not what he used to be, which was the father or massive armies for war.

The Lost Child: The young orphan who the Father is escorting to the Capital in hopes of reuniting her with her family. Mysterious circumstances abound, and may be the reincarnation of The First Child, the one who's death caused the Father and the Mother to separate when the Father refused to father an army to destroy the nation to avenge her.

Alternative interpretation: a pair of siblings, one young and one older, who claim to be heading to the Capital to find their family. The Father is escorting. The pair of siblings is actually two parts of the soul of the First Child, brought back to life by unclear means- the older is the shade of the life that was, while the younger is the innocent reincarnation that should have been left uninvolved.



Various other odds and ends should be there as well.



The Villains (assuming we need outright villains)

The Legacy Leader: Leader of a morally neutral ideology, L.L. takes it to morally unambiguous degrees. A demagogue, egocentric, and very power hungry, L.L. has taken a social movement/culture and made a secular religion of an ideology that may yet destroy the Family. Why? Despite what he claims, the Father knows what it really is: spite for not being made into an immortal. If he can't be immortal in life, L.L. will tear down the entire Family and be immortal in death... but he hasn't given up on immortality in life either.


The Mother: The other half of the founding pantheon of the Family. Once birthed the human race (or so they say) with Father, initially to fight a great evil. When the First Child (who the Mother loved most and kept from the fighting) was killed by Humans, the Mother demanded Father sire a host to destroy the nation responsible. The Father refused, which led to their separation. Now the Mother has two goals: to punish the descendents of those responsible (the far off nation of the Legacy), and to reincarnate and reunite with the soul of the First Child- she believes that once she has done both of these, she and the Father will reunite and lead the Family, with the First Child inheriting Humanity. To advance both of these goals, she is working with L.L., promising him immortality in exchange for helping regain the Lost Child. (She's trying to trick L.L. into a starting a war with the Family, which she will ensure the Family wins by spawning an unlimited army.)



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A very tentative early game might be-

-The PC is tasked to leave the village and go to the Capital to pick up medicine for mama/crop seeds/general good thing. The PC must take the Pilgrim's Path, and is encouraged to worship.

-Early on at the first significant settlement, plot begins to kick in when the Bones of the First, religious relics said to be the bones of the First Child, are stolen by thieves. Legacy activists are blamed, and believed to intend to desecrate them. The Royal Daughter arrives to help, and stick around when the player is asked to deliver the bones to the Capital.

-The Prodigal Son is seen hanging around here and there, and invites himself along.

-The Father and the Lost Child are encountered along the road and make companions.

-The player makes it to a major metropolis, and begins to see the good and bad of the world in full.